How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 675 severe incidents involving wheeled containers and material moving equipment over the last decade. Amputations account for 39% of these cases, while fractures account for 32%.
Your fingers are the most commonly affected body part, accounting for 43% of all reported incidents. You often suffer permanent damage when your fingers are caught between moving containers and stationary objects.
Hit by a cart or jack? Check what benefits you may be owed.
Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
You are most often injured when struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects, which accounts for 30% of incidents. You also face significant risk when struck by falling objects (23%) or when compressed between running equipment and other objects (22%).
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects—non-running | 198 |
| 2 | Struck by falling object | 152 |
| 3 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 144 |
| 4 | Overexertion while materials moving by hand | 36 |
| 5 | Other fall to lower level | 29 |
| 6 | Injured by object handled by person | 28 |
| 7 | Struck against stationary object | 13 |
| 8 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 9 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 30% of all reported wheeled container injuries. Transportation and warehousing follow at 17%, retail trade at 15%, and construction at 11%.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns involve you suffering finger amputations while pushing heavy carts or getting feet crushed by pallet jacks that move unexpectedly. These incidents often occur in tight spaces like coolers or near doorways where clearance is insufficient. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you understand your legal options.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | CT | Professional Services | "An employee was walking in steel-toed boots when his left foot struck a pallet jack, resulting in partial amputation of a toe." | |
| 2025 | PA | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was onsite to load a van with carts filled with packages for delivery. She was handling a cart (weighing approximately 300 to 500 pounds) down a ramp. The cart began to pull her down the ramp. At the foot of the ramp was another ramp with a railing. The cart struck the railing and the employee's hand was caught between the cart handle and the railing. The employee's right middle fingertip was amputated." | |
| 2025 | OH | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was pushing an empty onion cart when his left little finger was crushed between the cart and a meat rack. The finger was partially amputated." | |
| 2025 | TX | Retail Trade | "An employee was in the cooler, loading a cart with boxed meat products. The employee was exiting the cooler with the cart when his right hand got caught between the cart and the doorframe of the cooler. The employee's right middle finger was amputated." | |
| 2025 | TX | Administrative Services | "A temporary employee was checking pallets on a pallet jack when the pallet jack moved forward. His left foot was caught between a pallet and the forks of the pallet jack and fractured. " | |
| 2025 | SD | Manufacturing | "Two employees were delivering ice to the icebox outside a convenience store. The driver was using an electric pallet jack to load an empty pallet onto the truck. The injured employee was unloading ice from a pallet and placing the ice into the customer's icebox. With the truck s liftgate fully raised, the driver went to lift the forks of the pallet jack so the pallet would clear the truck bed. The pallet jack malfunctioned and reversed off the liftgate. It struck the injured employee resulting in fractures to their left hip/femur." | |
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was moving a tote full of empty tubes/molds for provolone and salami in a cart. A bar used to secure the molds in the cart came out of its holder and swung down, pinching the employee's right little finger against the cart frame. The fingertip was amputated." | |
| 2025 | OH | Construction | "An employee was helping a crew move a section of a grain conveyor that weighed 600-lbs into the proper configuration. The piece of equipment was sitting on a transport cart. While turning the cart to align it, the piece of equipment shifted and the employee's right middle finger was pinched in a small gap between the equipment and the cart. The employee pulled his gloved hand away and suffered a fingertip amputation." | |
| 2025 | PA | Construction | "A crew was completing drywall work to renovate movie theater rooms. An employee was using a dolly to move cement board into a theater when the dolly's wheel got stuck. The dolly and cement board fell onto the employee's left ankle resulting in a fracture requiring hospitalization." | |
| 2025 | OH | Wholesale Trade | "An employee pulled a dump lever on the side of a manual trash-dumping cart. When the lever sprung back, it caught his left ring finger against the outside of the metal cart. The fingertip was amputated." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.